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Do you like realism?

Winner: The Walking Dead. Although GoT’s characters are very real and likeable, TWD takes place in the here and now. Also, GoT has too much as-yet-unexplained weirdness (what was that thing that killed Renly?)

Do you love to hate people?

Winner: Game of Thrones. TWD has the Governor, and he is quite loathsome. But no one is as loathsome as Joffrey. Last season, I kept a “slap meter,” to celebrate every single time someone had slapped him. (And who can forget this YouTube video?)

Do you like your TV series based on books that actually have endings?

Winner: Tie. They both lose. GoT has been a series, A Song of Ice and Fire, since 1996. The Walking Dead comic book has been running since 2003. George R.R. Martin probably has more fans clinging to his ankles begging him to finish, though. Also, George, please finish. Thanks.

Do you like political intrigue?

Winner: Game of Thrones. TWD has political intrigue to be sure, particularly now when Andrea has worked to unite the two opposing camps. But as TWD’s raison d'être is zombies, GoT’s is political intrigue: There’s a reason it’s called “Game of Thrones.”

Do you like knowing who the good guys are?

Winner: Tie. There are no heroes in either show. There are characters you cheer for when they win. But all of them are flawed, and none of them are your typical heroes. Tyrion, who I love, does the right thing, but he’s far from heroic. And in both shows shows, there are characters you hate less than others.

Do you prefer following a few characters in one location over tracking more characters than you can remember all over the map?

Winner: The Walking Dead. Although TWD’s characters are in fact spread out over separate locations (e.g., Andrea in Woodbury, Rick and co. in the prison, Glenn and Maggie out scavenging for supplies) GoT’s characters are spread out over different continents. This will only become more sprawling as the series continues. (At least the people who do the title sequence will have plenty to keep them busy.)

Do you like having children as major viewpoint characters?

Winner: Game of Thrones. In GoT, you have Sansa, Arya, Bran, and Joffrey (not to mention Rickon and Arya’s fellow travelers). In TWD, you had Sophia, but not for long. Now there’s only Carl. (When the show started, Beth was 17, but she’s probably 18 or 19 at this point.)

Do you like gorgeous scenery?

Winner: Game of Thrones. TWD’s scenery is decaying or just plain bleak. Although parts of GoT are even more desolate (see North of the Wall), others are just stunning, particular the parts that were filmed in Dubrovnik, Croatia.

Do you like lots of fight scenes?

Winner: Tie. Although you would think GoT wins on epic battles because of the episode “The Battle of Blackwater,” TWD has more than its fair share of skirmishes—I’m thinking of the end of season 2, when the farm was overrun, for example.

Do you think it will all work out best in the end?

Loser: You. I believe both shows will end with every single character lying dead in pools of each other’s blood. You want everything to tie up nicely? Go watch My Little Pony. Friendship is magic, baby. So are happy endings.